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“Cammalleri talks to me 95 per cent of the time I’m on the ice. So it’s actually fun. I know where he is the whole time. So when that play was coming, he said, ‘Throw it at the net. I’m going to the net. I’ll get the rebound.’ Just like that. So I threw it at the net. We got a lucky bounce and it came right to him.”

That sequence, at 4:03 of the third period, led to a goal — the only goal, in fact, in the Calgary Flames’ 1-0 dramatic win over the Los Angeles Kings in National Hockey League action Saturday at the Staples Center.

The tally means that, of the Flames’ last 21 goals, 17 have been authored by four forwards — Cammalleri, Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen, Alex Tanguay.

More importantly, it means that the Flames are 10-3-4 since losing Jan. 5 in Boston, including 4-0-4 on the road.

“It was obviously a big game here, to be able to come in and get a victory,” said Flames coach Brent Sutter, whose club hopped over the Kings, coached by brother Darryl Sutter, on the Family Day long weekend. “Yet you take it a game at a time. No one’s doing handstands or anything like that. We know we’ve got a lot of work left. We just need to peck away. It’s going to be a battle right to the end.

“Every point that you can get along the way is huge. Coming in, we knew a win would put us in the eighth spot. Then, all of a sudden, come Tuesday (against the Edmonton Oilers), it’s becomes the next biggest game of the year.”

Sure. Fine.

But if the playoffs started today?

They’d be included. Which is something.

“It feels good,” said Cammalleri. “We know there’s a lot of hockey to be played. We want to be in the top eight when the season ends. I think we like some things we’re doing. But the season hasn’t come to a close. We have a lot of work ahead of us. We’ll reward ourselves when we have a shiny silver thing.”

The Kings, meanwhile, get leapfrogged.

They are 4-6-2 in their last 12 — with only 19 goals in that span.

“People connect effort with scoring,” Darryl Sutter said in the morning. “Well, that’s really unfair to these players, because they friggin’ lay it out there, and they will tonight.’’

Miikka Kiprusoff, of course, had other ideas.

“We really like our goaltender,” said Cammalleri. “What else can I say?”

The Flames netminder enjoyed a tremendous night, robbing Mike Richards more than once en route to his fourth shutout — and 44th of his career.

“Well, he was outstanding again,” said Brent Sutter. “It’s just the way he is. He makes those saves for you. We did a really good job of not giving the second and third opportunities, but he made some big first saves, obviously, for us throughout the night. But it’s just what you expect from Kipper.”

And maybe more than what you’d expect from Kostopoulos.

“T.K. played a whale of a game,” said Sutter. “In every area of the ice, he was just really good. He’s an experienced guy and he’s being put into a different role now because of the (injury) situation . . . and he’s responded really well.”

The game itself was hardly a classic.

Played on lousy ice — there was one basketball game Friday night, yet another Saturday afternoon — between two defensive-minded outfits.

“It was a tight-checking game,” said Cammalleri. “I mean, it’s two teams that are competing very hard and trying for every inch out there — not to be Al Pacino cliche, Any Given Sunday. But that’s how it was. You just commit yourself to it. You keep working, trying to create offence, understanding that you have to be responsible, defence-first.